Two major keynote speakers have been announced for the Third Arab Media Summit on October 7-8 - Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Minister of Information and Chairman of Emirates Media Incorporation, and Chris Cramer, President of CNN International.
The event will be hosted by Dubai Press Club at the new Madinat Al Jumeirah hotel and conference centre, and will focus on the role of war reporters in Iraq and the effect of government influence in the media.
Mona Al Marri, executive manager of Dubai Press Club, said: "Sheikh Abdullah and Cramer will set the tone of the summit which is themed around the subject of War and the Media. They will provide the introduction to the event featuring 500 top journalists and international media personalities, who will gather in Dubai to debate and analyse the role of the modern war correspondents."
The list of renowned speakers includes Pulitzer Prize winner Peter Arnett, who has spent a lifetime covering war and international crises for major American newspapers and most recently the Iraq War, and Tim Sebastian, Presenter of HardTalk for BBC World.
They will be joined by Dr Hanan Ashrawi, known to the world as the Voice of Palestine, as well as Azmi Bishara, Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset; James Laurie, head of news at Star Group; Guardian columnist Martin Woollacott; senior foreign correspondent of The Times Janine Didiovanni; Khaled Al Maena, Editor-in-Chief of Saudi Arabia's Arab News Group, Hamdi Qandeel of Al Alam Al Youm in Egypt; Jamil Mroue of Daily Star in Lebanon and Gavin Esler of the BBC.
Delegates will discuss "Are war correspondents honest and responsible members of the global society who report truly, freely and fairly, or can they be misled, vulnerable to the propaganda machines of political opponents in war?"
Mona added: "This is the first international gathering of top regional journalists following the Iraq war, so it is an appropriate focus of debate. It was during the war that questions like these emerged for public consideration."
Another subject that will be tackled is whether the media could be described as the 'Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction' because of its power to mould public opinion. Mona said the the second day will be devoted to Iraq as a Case Study.
The Arab Media Summit aims to promote a better mutual understanding and acceptance between the West and the Arab world, through the creation of a forum where opinion-makers from both sides can discuss issues in an open manner.
Mona said: "In keeping with this objective, we will have frank discussions on more refined media issues, such as whether the West still sees the Arab world through a distorted eye.
"We will also ask the delegates and speakers if they think the Arab media views Western media with disappointment and mistrust and how far apart the two viewpoints are. We will discuss ways to bridge the gap and reconcile the two perspectives."
She said that 200 of the world's top journalists and media personalities - mainly the West, along with 300 top-level regional and local media personalities will be attending this year's summit.
The grand finale will be the Arab Journalism Awards in which excellence by Arab reporters will be honoured.
Gulf News
